Alejandro "Alex" Ramirez
Dr. Alex Ramirez is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. He graduated from Iowa State University and practiced in rural Northwest Iowa for 11 years. He worked primarily in a large animal practice with an emphasis in swine. He left private practice to obtain his Master's in Public Health from The University of Iowa. He became board certified in Veterinary Preventive Medicine and is currently back at Iowa State University in the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) department as an Assistant Professor in swine production medicine with duties in teaching, research, and professional practice.

Ira Gordon
Dr. Gordon is a Californian and obtained his veterinary degree UC Davis. He completed an internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at The Ohio State University and returned to UC Davis and completed a residency in Radiation Oncology. Due to a strong interest in veterinary education and training, he stayed at UC Davis as an instructor in Radiation Oncology and then moved to the Washington D.C. area where he is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Radiation Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute. He also works clinically as a consulting radiation oncologist with The Oncology Service, LLC.

Bradford P. Smith
Following graduation from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1970, Dr Smith spent two years as a Peace Corps veterinarian. He then returned to Davis and joined the faculty, with much of his time dedicated to teaching in large animal clinics. His research was centered around Salmonella in livestock, its biology and control. He worked with a medical microbiologist at Stanford to develop a genetically altered live Salmonella vaccine which is in use today. Dr. Smith served as Director of the Veterinary Medical teaching Hospital at Davis from 1995 to 2007 when he retired. Dr. Smith has served as President of the Large Animal specialty of the ACVIM, and is perhaps best known as the author/editor of the textbook Large Animal Internal Medicine, now in its fourth edition.

Carrie Palm
Dr. Palm obtained her veterinary degree from UC Davis. After completion of veterinary school, Dr. Palm completed a rotating internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and then remained at Penn to complete a three year residency in small animal internal medicine. Dr. Palm worked as an internist at a busy private practice in Southern California. While Dr. Palm enjoys all aspects of internal medicine, her strong interest in nephrology, urology, and her love of teaching led her back to UC Davis where she is currently a fellow in hemodialysis/renal medicine and extracorporeal therapies.

Julie Fischer
Dr. Fischer received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and a small animal internal medicine residency at Kansas State University. Dr. Fischer served as a clinical instructor at Kansas State before entering private specialty practice in San Jose, California. In 2002, Dr. Fischer established UC Davis's Nephrology, Urology and Hemodialysis Service in San Diego, coordinating the program until 2009 and becoming a nationally recognized expert in upper and lower urinary tract disease. She has been a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, specialty of Small Animal Internal Medicine, since 2000.

Dr. Fischer particularly enjoys the diagnosis and management of upper and lower urinary tract problems, including complicated infections, obstructive ureteral diseases, prostatic diseases, incontinence, and acute and chronic renal failure. Her other special interests include immune-mediated diseases, oncology, and the clinical training of veterinary students and house officers. She served on the ACVIM Small Animal Internal Medicine (SAIM) Credentials Committee, served on and chaired the SAIM Residency Training Committee, and is currently a member of the SAIM Certifying Exam Committee. Dr. Fischer is passionate about the evolving art of post-doctoral veterinary education, especially the fusion of academic and private-practice advanced training programs. She has published scientific journal articles and textbook chapters on urinary diseases and other internal medicine topics, and speaks locally, nationally, and internationally on topics in nephrology and urology.

Stephen Shaw
Dr. Stephen Shaw was born and raised in Southern California. He received his undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley, and he pursued his veterinary degree from UC Davis. He completed a rigorous small animal rotating internship at Veterinary Medical and Surgical Group in Ventura, CA, then went back to UC Davis for his residency in medical oncology. He is currently working in the Northern California Bay Area at Veterinary Medical Specialists as a medical oncologist.

Mauricio Dujowich
Dr. Mauricio Dujowich grew up in San Diego and attended veterinary school at the University of California, Davis. After graduating, he completed a rotating internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego, CA followed by a surgical internship at Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, CO. He then began his surgical residency at Iowa State University. After his residency, Dr. Dujowich accepted a position at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital. His particular interests include minimally invasive surgery, oncologic surgery, thoracic surgery, fracture repair, and cruciate disease. Dr. Dujowich has authored papers in surgical techniques of gastric dilatation volvulus, thoracic wall reconstructive surgery, and more recently a book chapter in mandibular and maxillary fractures. In addition, Dr. Dujowich has published peer-reviewed articles in several species including horses and California condors. Dr. Dujowich's broad interests also resulted in his serving as surgeon for the Iowa State University Wildlife Care Center as well as a visiting surgeon for the Blank Park Zoo in Iowa and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Dr. Dujowich's passion for veterinary medicine has led to multiple awards and recognitions such as the California Veterinary Medical Association's award for Practice Excellence, Favorite Clinician at Iowa State University, and the VetPrep Lifetime Achievement Award. An avid outdoorsman, during his free time you will likely find him surfing, skiing, hiking, running, or biking.

Laura Stokking
Dr. Laura Stokking is a graduate of Texas A&M University. She completed both aninternship in Small Animal Surgery and Medicine and a residency in VeterinaryDermatology at the University of Illinois. She is a diplomate of the American College ofVeterinary Dermatology. Veterinary medicine is a second career for Dr. Stokking, whoholds a PhD in Earth Sciences from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At theUniversity of Illinois, she combined her prior training in fine-particle magneticinteractions with cutaneous neoplasia in a study of electron paramagnetic resonance ofmelanin in equine melanomatosis.

Dr. Stokking has a special interest in allergy and takes a multifaceted therapeuticapproach to the management of allergic disease. She has strong interests in cutaneousmanifestations of internal disease, comparative dermatology of immune-mediateddisease, and the links between skin cancer and infectious disease. Dr. Stokking's practiceis not limited to dogs and cats, but also includes horses and other large animals.Dr. Stokking has published several book chapters and reviews in veterinary dermatologyand has lectured veterinarians at national and local conferences.

Munashe Chigerwe
Dr. Munashe Chigerwe graduated with a veterinary degree from the University of Zimbabwe. He completed one-year internship and 3-year residency in Food Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He also completed a Masters in Public Health and a PhD from the University of Missouri, Columbia. Currently he is a faculty member in Food Animal Medicine at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include passive transfer of immunity in calves.

Michael Martin
Dr. Martin received his veterinary degree and Masters of Preventative Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. He also completed a Poultry Medicine residency at UC Davis and then went to work at Embrex, Inc. to conduct research on the support and development of poultry vaccines. At the same time, he worked for a startup company, Immunobiosciences Inc, as Director of Research and Development to further vaccine research in all animal species. Because of his interest in teaching, he left to work as faculty at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and then joined the Poultry Health Management team at North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU, CVM). Currently, Dr. Martin acts as the field clinician and epidemiologist for the Poultry Health Management team. He is also the coordinator for the senior veterinary student poultry medicine rotations at NCSU, CVM and receives numerous visiting students from across the country and internationally. He is also the administrator of the poultry medicine residency program at NCSU, CVM.

David Lipsitz
Dr. David Lipsitz received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Tennessee in 1988 and went on to complete his small animal internship at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston. Dr. Lipsitz completed a Neurology/Neurosurgery residency at the University of California, Davis in 1991, and became board-certified in Neurology. He served as Chief of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin. He later returned to UC Davis as an assistant professor and senior clinical neurologist. There, he has been a lecturer in Neurology/Neurosurgery, a research fellow with a clinical appointment, and an assistant professor.

Dr. Lipsitz has extensive training and experience in intracranial and spinal surgery. His special interests also include the MRI features of various neurological diseases and the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors. He also has a strong interest in neuromuscular diseases and electrodiagnostic medicine. Dr. Lipsitz has published many scientific articles and textbook chapters and lectures frequently at local, national and international scientific meetings. He has also lectured veterinary students at veterinary colleges around the country. Dr. Lipsitz has an appointment as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UC San Diego in the Department of Pathology where he is involved in the study of neuromuscular diseases with the Companion Animal Diagnostics Section of the Comparative Neuromuscular Laboratory, Department of Pathology.

Jeffery Zuba
Jeffery Zuba obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin's School of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduate school in virology and immunology, he completed his residency in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine at the Zoological Society of San Diego. Dr. Zuba then received an appointment as Clinical Professor in Zoo Medicine at Colorado State University. For the past 17 years, Dr. Zuba has been a staff veterinarian at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Professional highlights include being a faculty member for the Envirovet Institute (an ecosystem veterinary health program), an affiliate clinical professor at the Wildlife health Center at the University of California-Davis, the Veterinary Coordinator for the Condor Release Program in Baja, Mexico and the Veterinary Advisor for the White Rhinoceros, Species Survival Plan. Dr. Zuba lectures internationally on a wide range of subjects including anesthesia and conservation medicine. He is a principal investigator of a team who have developed anesthetic and laparoscopic protocols to perform the first-ever surgical contraception procedures in free ranging African elephants.

David Wong
Dr. Wong has an interest in all aspects of equine medicine but a particular interest in equine critical care and foal medicine. After graduating from Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Wong went into private practice for 3 years after which he started a residency in large animal medicine (ACVIM) at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. After completing his residency, Dr. Wong performed a fellowship in large animal emergency and critical care (ACVECC). Currently, Dr. Wong can be found in an academic setting at the Iowa State University enjoying clinical medicine along with teaching and clinical research as the section head of the equine medicine service.

Ashley Zehnder
Ashley Zehnder, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian) - Dr. Zehnder obtained her veterinary degree from the University of Florida in 2005. She completed a small animal rotating internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York in 2006 and a residency in companion avian and exotic medicine at UC Davis in 2009. During her residency, she developed an interest in cancer therapies for non-traditional species. She is currently pursuing a PhD in cancer biology at Stanford University with a focus on epithelial neoplasia. While completing her PhD, she continues to practice exotic animal medicine in the San Francisco Bay area.

Brad Holmberg
Dr. Holmberg is a clinical ophthalmologist and has extensive training in basic and applied research. Prior to and during his veterinary education he completed Masters of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the area of neuroscience. He has published many peer reviewed manuscripts, contributed to chapters in several renowned veterinary textbooks, received several prestigious research grants, serves on several review boards and frequently provides continuing education lectures throughout New Jersey. He is an active member of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists where he serves on the Examination Committee and is a board member of the Vision for Animals Foundation. Dr. Holmberg's special interests include exotic animal ophthalmology and all aspects of ophthalmic surgery, specifically corneal surgery.